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I posted a comment in the Opportunity route map thread about this, but I can go into more detail here.

I have mapped the activities of Opportunity from Eagle crater to the present location, first for my Atlas of Mars Exploration Vol. 2, and more recently as new work for a future Vol. 3. Also, since I took over the Opportunity route map thread from Eduardo and others, many of those maps have appeared here on a sol by sol basis.

But what do you do if you want a convenient single source for Opportunity's travels? Our thread gives you that, but you have to look through more than 200 pages of maps. The mission website is similar - maps go back nearly to the beginning but over hundreds of web pages. Also the maps are in different styles, by different people, with ou without (mostly without) feature names etc.

In a way my big Atlas serves this purpose - from sol 1 to sol 3700 it presents maps of activities, with names, all in a common format and a standard scale but with lots of extra larger-scale maps where needed. But I am well aware that it is expensive and out of most people's individual price range. And we have nearly 1000 sols to add to it now.

To remedy this situation I have collected a set of maps following the whole path from Eagle crater to the exit from Endeavour, sols 1 to 4640. Well, not quite the exit, but close to it. These are maps from my Mars Atlas (up to sol 3700) and from new work since then, including maps released here. I have assembled them in an ebook which is now available from the Kobo store. Just go to www.kobo.com and search for my name or the Title 'Atlas of Opportunity' and you will find it.

It's only maps, apart from a half page introduction. They are best viewed on a tablet, or I suppose a desktop ebook reader. The file is .epub format, which probably can't be read on a Kindle but can on lots of other e-readers. On a tablet the maps can be expanded and scrolled around to follow the path of the rover. No text, no photos, just maps, but I hope it will be a handy guide to the travels of our plucky little rover. And a lot cheaper than my big books. Because the book consists only of images it's quite a big file, so if you want it, be in a place with a good wifi connection!

I will update the file from time to time, once each year or two. If this works out well I will do Spirit and Curiosity as well, and maybe other topics I can draw on from my vast collection of files.

And I should add... I am new to this brave new world of e-books and self-publishing. If you find problems - like maps that will not expand etc., please let me know.

It took a long time, but I think I have figured out how to do this for a PDF, but not from the same source. I have tested it for Curiosity (see new thread on that topic) and if it works I will be adding Opportunity via that platform.

It took a long time, but I think I have figured out how to do this for a PDF, but not from the same source. I have tested it for Curiosity (see new thread on that topic) and if it works I will be adding Opportunity via that platform. Phil

OK, sol 5000 is almost here - tomorrow as I write this. And to celebrate, here is my promised new Atlas of Opportunity. The old one was done a year ago so this has an extra year added, but whereas the old version was only available as an .epub file (to read on a Kobo or other Android reader), this is available either as a hardcopy or as a PDF file. The PDF should be readable on any platform - I never did figure out how to make the old one work for Kindle, but anything with an Adobe Reader app can deal with this.

Many of these maps you will have seen grow sol by sol here on UMSF, but now you can get them all in one convenient place, all the way back to the landing.

And to add the icing to the cake, it is accompanied by a new Atlas of Lunar Landing Sites. Remember Chang'E 3 - that was another case where a map grew day by day on UMSF as we got details. Every other lunar landing long predated Chang'E 3, but here they are collected in a very concise set of maps. Static landers get one page, with 2 or 3 maps or images showing the site, including one for context and one very close-up view. Rovers get a second page showing the traverses. It's all very compressed, but I hope it will be a handy reference. As for the other Blurb atlases, it is available as a hardcopy or PDF from:

OK, the Atlas of Spirit is now available. I don't think I posted any maps for Spirit on UMSF, so these maps will all be new to you if you have not seen my big book. This is available as a hardcopy or a PDF file.

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